Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Pediculosis pubis (also known as "crabs" and "pubic lice") is an infestation by the pubic louse, Pthirus pubis, a wingless insect which feeds on blood and lays its eggs (nits) on mainly pubic hair. Less commonly, hair near the anus, armpit, beard, eyebrows, moustache, and eyelashes may be involved.
The crab louse or pubic louse (Pthirus pubis) is an insect that is an obligate ectoparasite of humans, feeding exclusively on blood. [2] The crab louse usually is found in the person's pubic hair . Although the louse cannot jump, it can also live in other areas of the body that are covered with coarse hair, such as the perianal area , the ...
Pthirus is a genus of lice. There are only two extant species, and they are the sole known members of the family Pthiridae. [4] Pthirus gorillae infests gorillas, [5] and Pthirus pubis afflicts humans, and is commonly known as the crab louse or pubic louse. [6] The two species diverged some 3.3 million years ago. [7]
Humans host two species of louse—the head louse and the body louse are subspecies of Pediculus humanus; and the pubic louse, Pthirus pubis. The body louse has the smallest genome of any known insect; it has been used as a model organism and has been the subject of much research. Lice were ubiquitous in human society until at least the Middle ...
Molecular phylogenetics suggest that P. gorillae jumped from gorillas to early humans 3.3 million years ago and diverged into the present-day pubic louse. [1] [8] Researchers theorize that humans acquired the parasite while butchering or scavenging on gorilla carcasses, or sleeping in the abandoned sleeping nests of gorillas. [9] [10]
The body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus, also known as Pediculus humanus corporis) or the cootie is a hematophagic ectoparasite louse that infests humans. [1] It is one of three lice which infest humans, the other two being the head louse, and the crab louse or pubic louse.
The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) is an obligate ectoparasite of humans. [1] Head lice are wingless insects that spend their entire lives on the human scalp and feed exclusively on human blood. [1] Humans are the only known hosts of this specific parasite, while chimpanzees and bonobos host a closely related species, Pediculus schaeffi.
Pediculosis is an infestation of lice from the sub-order Anoplura, family Pediculidae. Accordingly, the infestation with head lice is named pediculosis capitis, while this with body lice, pediculosis corporis.